After completing his undergraduate degree in Environmental Sciences, Nigel worked for five years as a conservation scientist in the Palaeontology Conservation Unit of The Natural History Museum, London. The two main projects that he was contracted to work on were the conservation and redisplay of a large collection of scientifically and historically important Jurassic marine reptiles, and the preparation, conservation, mounting and installation of fossil material and casts for the new dinosaur gallery which opened in 1992. During this time he learnt a great deal about the conservation of natural history specimens and the care of museum collections. He also gained a Master of Science degree in Vertebrate Palaeontology at University College London, studying part-time. In general his duties and responsibilities included: undertaking relevant preparation and remedial and preventive conservation of all types of palaeontological material; the replication of fossil and sub-fossil material in a variety of media for display and research; the installation of fossil and replica specimens into new exhibitions; responding to emergency conservation needs; and providing conservation advice to staff of the Palaeontology Department and Exhibitions Department.

After working there full time for five years his project-funded contracts came to an end, but he still works for the Natural History Museum in a freelance capacity. He has assisted the Engineering Section of the Exhibitions and Education Department in mounting and installing geological material in the new "Earth Galleries" exhibition, assisted in installing the travelling Kokoro robotic dinosaurs, and has helped to organise major palaeontological excavations abroad (as site manager) for the Natural History Museum on several occasions.

Nigel's next major contract was to manage the West Runton Elephant Conservation Project for Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service. This was externally financed by the Heritage Lottery Fund. He was responsible for designing and implementing the remedial and preventive conservation strategies and the curation of the West Runton Elephant and associated fauna (several hundred very important sub-fossil Pleistocene specimens). This included creating a new lab facility, managing staff and volunteers, creating temporary displays, delivering talks to the public, attracting funding, creating risk assessments, curating the material, casting replicas for research purposes, testing materials and publishing conservation research. Other departmental duties included: advising the Museums Service and general public on geological and palaeontological conservation and general natural history conservation; conserving and installing specimens as part of the £12million Norwich Castle Museum Redevelopment Project (HLF funded); advising on and undertaking some preventive and remedial conservation of the geology collections and other natural history collections; identifying geological specimens; undertaking collections surveys; undertaking training of staff and public in conservation issues; and installing and maintaining various environmental monitoring systems.

After the West Runton Elephant Conservation Project was completed, Nigel was the Curator of Geology for Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service for seven years. By then Norfolk Museums Service was the Hub museum service for the whole of the Eastern Regions. This position involved further experience in remedial conservation and preventive conservation projects, curation, documentation, conservation assessments and raising funds (including an award with colleague Martin Warren of more than £100,000 from the Designation Challenge Fund)

Nigel worked as a conservator or curator in national museums or regional Museums services for almost 20 years, and in addition undertook a variety of freelance projects in his own time during this period. Now he works in a freelance capacity full time, mostly at home in Shropshire where he has an insulated, double-glazed, alarmed and insured conservation studio.

As well as Norfolk Museums and Archaeology Service and the Natural History Museum, Nigel has worked for the BBC and Channel4, worked in the Antarctic with the British Antarctic Survey for a season and was site manager for fieldwork in Gibraltar for a month each year for four years, excavating Neanderthal sites with The Natural History Museum.

Recently he has also undertaken conservation work for the Abu Dhabi Islands Arcaheological Survey, the Oxford Archaeological Unit, Kent County Council, The Norfolk Archaeological Unit, Bradford University's Department of Archaeological Sciences , Durham University's Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Somerset Museum, Bedford Museum, Dorset County Museum, Birmingham Thinktank, the National Museums of Northern Ireland , Hancock Museum, York Museum Trust and various individuals with private collections.

He has worked as an excavator and site conservator on some internationally important excavations in recent years including: the famous Swanscombe site in Kent; Happisburgh and Pakefield, on coasts of Norfolk and Suffolk - The oldest hominid sites in the whole of North and West Europe; a new site at Norton Subcourse shedding light on a hitherto unknown warm period in the early Pleistocene; and the very best Neanderthal site ever to have been found in the UK (at Lynford, Thetford Forest) which he discovered together with John Lord.

Nigel is currently studying part-time for a Masters Degree in 'Architecture: Advanced Environmental and Energy Systems' with the University of East London and the Centre for Alternative Technology. This is to enable him to provide advice to museums on how to conserve their energy with low-cost, low-tech solutions to reduce their carbon footprint and lower their energy costs.

He uses his blacksmithing and welding skills to make bespoke mounts for displaying museum specimens and is now exploring archaeological and palaeontological sites underwater, putting his PADI Open Water scuba diving qualification to use.

Publications:

· Displaying dinosaurs at the Natural History Museum, London. Lindsay, W., Larkin, N. and Smith, N. (1996). Curator, The Museums Journal, 39/4.

· Plastic containers: a comparison. Larkin, N., Makridou, E. and Comerford, G. (1998). The Conservator, 22.

· Comparing gap-fillers used in conserving sub-fossil material. Larkin, N. and Makridou, E. (1999). The Geological Curator 7 (2), 81-90.

· Using experimental studies of recent faecal material to examine hyaena coprolites from the West Runton Freshwater Bed, Norfolk, England. Larkin, N., Alexander, J., and Lewis, M. (2000). Journal of Archaeological Science 27, 19-31.

· Analysis of volatile organic compounds in plastic containers used for museum storage. Larkin, N., Makridou, E. and Blades, N. (2000). The Conservator, 24.

· Conservation of Late Miocene Fossils in Abu Dhabi. Larkin, N., Chapter 4 in "Abu Dhabi 8 Million Years Ago: Late Miocene Fossils From the Western Region". Editors: Mark Beech & Peter Hellyer, ADIAS 2005. ISBN 9948-03188-1.

· "Out Of Eden: The Eden Project Companion". Contributing author. Published by Eden Project Books, 2005. ISBN 1-903-91926-6.

· "Art at the Rockface: The Fascination of Stone in Art". Moore, A.W. and Larkin, N. (2006). Published by Phillip Wilson, 2006. 96pp.

· "Art at the Rockface - making an exhibition on the fascination of stone". Larkin, N. and Moore, A.W. (2006). Deposits, issue 5, 34-37.

· "Art at the Rockface - making an exhibition on the fascination of stone" . Larkin, N. and Moore, A.W. (2006). The Magazine of the Geological Association, Vol. 5, No. 2, June 2006, p16-17.

· "The earliest appearance of Norwegian indicator erratics in the glacial succession of Northeast Norfolk". Hoare, P.G., Larkin, N.R. and Connell, E.R (2006). Quaternary Research Association Bulletin

· "Happisburgh Site 1 (TG388307). Ashton, N., Parfitt, S.A., Lewis, S.G. Coppe, R. and Larkin, N. East Anglian Field Guide. Edited by Candy, I., Lee, J.T., and Harrison, A.M. Quaternary Research Association, 2008.

· "The glacial erratic collection at Norwich Castle Museum". Hoare, P.G., Larkin, N.R. (2008). Bulletin of the Geological Society of Norfolk, 58, 37-61.

· "Marine Isotope Stage 7–6 transition age for beach sediments at Morston, north Norfolk, U.K.: implications for Pleistocene chronology, stratigraphy and tectonics." Hoare, P.G., Gale, S.J., Robinson, R.A.J., Connell, E.R. & Larkin, N.R.,. 2009. Journal of Quaternary Science 24, 311–316.

· "Early Pleistocene human occupation at the edge of the boreal zone in northwest Europe". Simon A. Parfitt, Nick M. Ashton, Simon G. Lewis, Richard L. Abel, G. Russell Coope, Mike H. Field, Rowena Gale, Peter G. Hoare, Nigel R. Larkin, Mark D. Lewis, Vassil Karloukovski, Barbara A. Maher, Sylvia M. Peglar, Richard C. Preece, John E. Whittaker & Chris B. Stringer. Nature 466, 229-233 (8 July 2010).

Back to the home page